{"product_id":"notorious-prisons-of-the-world-book-stephen-wade-9781783030170","title":"Notorious Prisons of the World","description":"The first prisons were in the dungeons of empires and castles, places of  neglect and sheer oblivion. Every civilization has had its dissenters and  its 'deviants' - criminals as well as political offenders, and so prisons  became essential to the retention of power. As the centuries passed after  classical times, and prisons were needed for other categories of person,  such as debtors, states across the world began to cater for a variety of  prisoners, and legal systems became more closely linked to incarceration. The World's Most Notorious Prisons traces this development, from the state prisons of Athens and Rome, through to the birth of the house of correction  and the penitentiary. Stephen Wade tells the stories of the infamous penal  colonies and state prisons across the stage of world history, from Alcatraz  to Van Dieman's Land, and from the Siberian gulags to the massive superjails  of modern America. The book traces the stories of inmates and staff, political regimes and the  rise and fall of empires, all seen through the prison walls. The history of  prisons, as is often noted, throws light on the human political and state  structures which generated punishments which have taken away individual  freedom, sometimes with a degree of humanitarian concern, and sometimes with  sheer barbarism.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49530104414481,"sku":"GOR009625841","price":10.69,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1783030178.jpg?v=1750897450","url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/products\/notorious-prisons-of-the-world-book-stephen-wade-9781783030170","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}